Method of making rubbery articles



March 2, 1954 A. R cox METHOD OF MAKING RUBBERY ARTICLES Filed Oct 11 1951 Mini flZL/Ezz E'Q CUX E w, JW

fforcing memberembedoTi-nig' thejreinforc fber betwee'n "the two deposits.

'are *fhfi'lVIllCZiIllZfidWhilS form tojform an integral vulcanized article is "then f"-strippedf Ff m fthe Patented Mar. 2, 1954 -2,67o,5o2 c ammon es-me e fllvon liti fioxp(Juyalrioga Falls; Ghio srnesne assignments, to The B.

passigno'ryby F. -;Goodrich Gompany, *Akron, ohio meorporation of N ew York This invention relates to a depositi'on form -and "It 'is an objectfiof this inven'tiontoiprovide' a rormifor'imakin z rubbery articl'es.

lIt is also b'ject of' this invention td'qarovide eposition orm for 'making rubbery articles wa ving ta: :1 einforeing qiiember 'em'bedded *inthe wail-thereof.

Another object of this invention is =toprovitie 1 deposition tor-m to which ai reinforcing me'rnber ma'y' be'x detach'abl'ysecured tozrpermit' the reinforcing member to be ':inaintained fin za" 'desired position with resp'ect -t'o said form during the deposition operation.

"Still another fobiect' of" this' ir'ivention is to provide a method 01 embedding--21:reinforcingmemoer inthe wallof a' rubbery 'article'made by depositing a layer"of-rubb'eryinaterial on'the surface of r a "deposition form.

Other objects of this inventitm will :be apparent from the drawings and description which a follow.

Many thin-walled rubbery articles such as deposit t c-permanently maintain the contour f the :io'rm after the deposit is --stripped therefrom. 4 However, F in "View of the :fact --=that -the rubbery -articles are relatively flexible, it :fre-

quently is :desirable to incorporate a reinforcing member in the wall ofthe article to provide additional rigidity-to-that portion of the'=wall. One conventional method of incorporating a reinforcing member in the wall of the article is to deposit a 'rubberyilayer over the rorm," a'iihere the reinforcing membento the {01156914306 of the rubbery layer and deposit a second layer of rubbery material over the firsjt depositai'id refin- 'f'r he dessert with the reinforcing member e' disposed dver the membe' and 'fthe form, the "reinforcing'memb'erembedd dfinthe i wannf the'article' providing"theadditionaFrlgid- "ity desired.

The aforementioned method of incorporating a reinforcing member in the wall of a rubbery article-made by "depositing the rubbery material 'ozrthe taceof' a-depositionform is a time constiming and expensive operation, in -that it 1 is necessary that -the deposi tion of 'the rubbery ma- -terialon the form-comprises a two-stepdipping v process. Furtherm ore, in the above-mentioned nithod =-of embedding reinforcing 7 members in rubbery:articlesdt isfrequently-diiiicult. to-position the-reinforcing' inember in the exactepositiori desired and often-during the second dipping vprocess =-the reinforcing -member becomes disiodged frcm-its desired; position rendering the finished article unsatisfactory.

: I have :invented ga deposition form upon which I a rubbery --artic1e having I a reinforcing gmember embedded therein may 'be 1 fabricated which iattains the objections enumerated above and which is-not-subjected-to the deficiencies inherent in conventienal -depo sition forms. A deposition form within the. purview of this invention is pro- *vided with securing members to which-a reinforcing member :may -be-secured C during -the a de- --position or dipping -process but from --which it "may be readily detached after a desired; layer of rubb ery-materia-lhas; beemdeposited-on the form. To clearly illustrate:this-invention reference will henceforthhe made i to theembodirn-ents 0f this-invention shown i-n the drawings, however,

= it -wil1:beunderstood that the-embodiments -are :rnere'ly illustrationswf -,the;invention andQthat I *donot intend-to limit-the scopeof this invention :to these embodiments.

Inthe drawings:v I

-1 is a frontelevation-view oi? a deposition form withi'n the purview of this invention for -malmg a tinn-Wal-led:- respiratory Y mask: showing a' 'reinforcing I member part-ly -broken away --detacha-bly :secured thereto; v

"Fig. 2 is a sideelevation view. partly 3 broken -away and in section of the deposit-ion r--f;orm of z qsortion of a deposlition 'form showing 'arrother embodi rrient of this invention and-showing a rubbery 1 deposit disposed iov'er' the r surface zof the for" and F is an elevation view 1 in section 'of the firubbery deposit ==shown Fig. "4 after 'removal tom -thefomn,-" 'shovv ing the reinforcing member completely embedded in the rubbery wall.

In one embodiment of this invention, shown Grooved securing or supporting'members I2, I2

embedded in body member II are adapted to firmly grasp and retain an elongated relatively rigid reinforcing member I3 in one desired position, preferably in spaced relationship with respect to body member II, during the deposition operation, reinforcing member I3 being secured in place merely by frictional engagement thereof in the grooves I4, I I of securing members I2, I2 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Securing members I2, I2 may be secured in the face of body member I I in any usual manner, such as by casting body member I I around the preformed securing members I2, I2 or by providing securing members I2,

I2 with an appropriate threaded portion to allow them to be screwed into the face of body member II which has been previously fabricated.

Form I is provided with a supporting arm or extension I5 to allow form In to be suspended from an appropriate support (not shown) in a latex bath I8 confined in dipping tank ii.

A preferred method of utilizing form Ill in the manufacture of a thin-walled rubbery respirator mask comprises inserting reinforcing member I3 in grooves M, M of securing members l2, I2 embedded in body member II, as shown in Fig. l, dipping form I6 in a rubber coagulant, such as aqueous acetic acid, a solution of calcium nitrate in acetone, etc., and then immersing the coagulant coated form II! in an aqueous dispersion of a rubber-like material such as rubber latex for a sufficient period of time (1-15 minutes or more) i to build up a deposit I8 of rubber solids of the desired thickness over the surface of form II) and around reinforcing member I3 by diffusion of the coagulant into the latex, reinforcing member I3 being entirely embedded in the rubbery deposit except at those places along which reinforcing member I3 contacts securing members I2, I2. The coated form is heated to dry and/or to vulcanize the rubbery deposit I8. The vulcanized deposit I8 with reinforcing member I3 embedded therein is removed or stripped from form I0 and any undesired areas of deposit I8 are cut from the rubbery deposit at this time or just prior to removing the deposit from the form. The unembedded areas of reinforcing member I3 occurring at the contact areas of reinforcing member I3 with securing members I2, I2 are filled with an appropriate rubbery composition to form a fillet I9 over the exposed areas of reinforcing member I3, as shown in Fig.5.

In a second embodiment of this invention, as shown in Fig. 4, deposition form is the same as form I0 having a body member 2I and supporting arm or extension 22 except that grooved securing members I2, I2 are replaced with permanent magnetic or electromagnetic securing or supporting members 23. In utilizing form 20, reinforcing member I3 must be constructed of a paramagnetic material such as iron or steel, so that reinforcing member I3 will be magnetically 4 attracted and firmly held in a desired position with respect to form 20 during the deposition process.

The method of utilizing form 29 may be the same as the method enumerated above in the utilization of form I0.

In manufacturing rubbery articles by depositing a layer of rubber-like material on the surface of a deposition form within the purview of this invention it is possible to incorporate a relatively rigid reinforcing member within the rubbery deposit in a single latex dipping operation, whereas, heretofore, it has been necessary to employ at least a two-stage latex dipping operation to incorporate the reinforcing member in the rubbery deposit. Accordingly, fabricating reinforced rubbery artioles in accordance with this invention is less expensive and less time-consuming than if conventional deposition forms are utilized.

Deposition forms within the scope of this invention are adapted to securely maintain a reinforcing member in a desired location on the face of the form during the entire dipping operation to provide a rubbery article which is reinforced along a desired portion of the wall of the article, whereas incorporating a reinforcing member in the wall of the article in the conven- .-.tional manner. frequently results in the reinforcing member becoming displaced during the deposition process from its desired position resulting in an unsatisfactory article.

It is clear that obvious modifications and variations of this invention made be made without .1 departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim: The method of making a rubbery article having a reinforcing member embedded therein comprising providing a deposition form including a body member having the general configuration of said article and having means projecting from the face of said body member for detachably engaging said reinforcing member in spaced relationship from the face of said body member, detachably securingsaid reinforcing member to said means in spaced relation from said body member, depositing a rubbery layer on the face of said deposition form and about said reinforcing member secured thereto by immersing said deposition form with said reinforcing member atached thereto in an aqueous rubbery dispersion, removing said rubbery layer with said reinforcing member embedded therein from said deposition form, and depositing a rubbery composition in the opening in said rubbery layer occasioned by said means to completely embed said reinforcing member in a rubbery matrix.

ALVON R. COX.

References Cited in the file of this patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,325,898 Marquette Dec. 23, 1919 1,536,857 Hudson May 5, 1925 1,861,673 Wilhelmi June '7, 1932 2,297,923 Strong Oct. 6, 1942 2,330,330 Beal et al Sept. 28, 1943 2,338,827 Teague et a1. Jan. 11, 1944 2,415,391 Lovell Feb. 4,1947 2,456,162 Waterbury Dec. 14, 1948 2,465,276 Ryder Mar. 22, 1949 

